22 Tháng 1 2006 - Cập nhật 16h06 GMT

Peter Tôn Thất
Business Analyst - UBS

A Vietnamese Londoner's work story

Summer 1990 was the time when I first started working.

My uncle was a 'pizza maker' in Pizza Hut and he managed to convince the manager to give me an interview for a waiting job.

I was 16 at the time, just finished my GCSE exams.

I recall turning up for work at 10am, given a uniform, taken to the restaurant floor and given on the job training, which consisted of how to lay plate, fork, knife, serviette on the table in correct manners, how and when to take orders, how to serve foods and so on.

At 12pm the restaurant was opened and by 1pm, it was in full swing.

13 hour shift

It was a really nice summer day and Hampstead was a very lively area. I was just assisting the main waiter/waitresses.

The shift was supposed to be from 11-6pm, however I was then asked if I could stay on until closing time because one of the waiter for a later shift (6pm-1am) could not make it. I willingly agreed.

One of the staff turned up for the second shift was William; he was a full time law student at Holborn College and a very popular waiter with the customers.

He gave me the responsibility of taking orders and offered to split the tip with me evenly. At end of that night, we made £26 and I was given my share of the tip.

By the time I got home, I was about 1.30 in the morning. My legs were so tired after about 13 hours of running around, but I felt good inside. Looking back, I'd never forget my first working day.

I ended up staying with Pizza Hut on and off for about 4 years, working during summers, holidays.

Many of us were students and we were very close. William also had an older sister and a younger brother working there; my sister also worked there briefly.

In the old days, we were not asking much, just happily doing our job.

Naughty customers

Being in Hampstead, one of the most affluent areas in London, was something interesting as well.

I remember serving a few celebrities from Eastenders, or very polite and diplomatic customers who obviously have rich backgrounds; I also remember arguing with customers as well.

One argument really got to me was when a guy started smoking in a non-smoking area; I politely told him to put it out many times, he did not and even said to me: this is not Vietnam you know! It really got to me, I got up really close to his face and said 'oh yeah?!'.

He immediately backed down.

I was a baby in the restaurant and the management was really nice and supportive.

Learn by mistakes

My English was not the best thing in the world and I ended up making a few mistakes when taking orders from customers. Barbara (the manager) consoled me by saying things like 'every makes mistakes', or 'you learn from your mistakes'.

These kind gestures later on encouraged me to be understanding and sympathetic towards mistakes; it encourages people to avoid a blame culture, when there is a mistake, we all work on it to remedy it rather than spending time blaming each other.

This mentality is also very common in professional workplaces like UBS and other banks/organisations.

My sister and I also spent 3 months working in a clothing factory in Hackney. It was working for Vietnamese owners. It was hard work, removing excess cottons (cat chi), ironing, price tagging etc.

The working was typically from 9-6pm. The owners were really nice, putting a lot of faith in us and we became friends until today.

In one summer, I remember working in a factory making suitcases for Carlton ltd. It was a production line and thus work was very intense. The supervisor was very strict, I quit after only 2 weeks!

By the time I finished my Master, it has been 6 years of part time and summer work.

PhD years

When I started my PhD, I stopped working part time and spent time working for the university doing laboratory demonstration, class assistant tutor, admin work and exam invigilator.

I have always stayed at home during my student years and thus the money I earned being an assistant tutor was surplus.

I was able to afford a car (even though it was old), I was able to buy HiFi equipments etc.

Looking back, I valued every job that I did, the people that I met, the lessons that I learned etc.

While I don't regret any of it, but if I was to do it again, I would not have worked as hard as I did.

As I youngster, it would be more sensible to enjoy life and summer breaks as well.

After all, being a student means that we could always get by whether with or without lots of money.

Additionally I wish that I could do more work in a more professional environment (office work, engineering field, business environment etc; companies offer placement or work experience) to gain some insight experience which may help in selecting the right career path later.

Change of direction

During my PhD, I was interested in economics and accounting. I did not want to follow the engineering route, nor scientific jobs outside London fearing that I would be bored.

The end of my 3 year PhD stint coincides with the height of dot come boom and acquisition and merger businesses.

So the decision of seeking a job in an investment bank made sense.

It just so happened that my now brother-in-law got me an interview at the company that he was working at.

I went along and was offered the job on the spot after showing enthusiasm for the job and demonstrating that all skills acquired during my PhD were transferable (self motivation, work with minimal supervision, well organisation, deadline delivery, data analysis and presentation etc).

The first role was Quality Assurance in a software company providing solutions for Lloyd's insurance syndicates.

I quickly picked up the new knowledge and was about to move into a more technical role as a developer when the opportunity of moving to UBS Investment Bank came up.

After 4 rounds of interviews, I was accepted. Since joining UBS, I have performed various functions in testing, development, analysis, project co-ordination and team leading.

All and all, everything seems smooth and I must admit that I have been lucky along the way.

Personal thoughts

My working life is relatively short and thus while it may not be appropriate to recommend best practices to readers, however I have a few personal thoughts that I would like to share:

• Although I have enjoyed my time at UBS, at times I do not feel challenged enough; in my spare time I study various thigns about business, financial products, technical skills, project management, meeting chairing, communication skills, public speaking etc. These skills make me a more rounded person.

• Influencing skill is very important. It's about knowing what your clients/colleagues need and come up with solutions/products to help making their life better, and working in the Bank means maximising their potential for making more money.

Investment Bank is a very profit focussed business, and everything we do is driven by and therefore have to fall into business needs.

• I've found that the following characters enhance your success at work: competency, enthusiasm, learning ability and sense of responsibility ownership.

Other things include networking which means that you have to develop and maintain relationships with other people well, this is assisted by being interpersonal, helpful, social events etc.

The bottom line is that one can be brilliant at a particular technical field, but if one wants to move up the corporate ladder, one has to develop non-technical skills.

• I find that quality people with certain degree of confidence/firmness yet approachable do go far, so the right mentality/attitude is essential.

Successful male workers seem to be well spoken, competent and good at management. Successful female workers seem to be firm and they have this 'don't-mess-with-me' look about them.

On top of this, female workers with a more decent look on top of their professional skills seem to flair better too. It is an unfair aspect of our image-conscious society.

• I can't stress enough the importance of communication skill. It's not how well you speak a language, but how you present your points. I have to use a different language (business/technical) based on the type of audience I address to.

• I do accept that people are different and you can't expect them to be in certain ways. I don't tend to carry a grudge on people and if I don't like something or a work colleague, or even a feedback from a manager, I try not to be disturbed emotionally but I do talk to them privately in constructive manner.

• There should not be a blame culture- if there is a problem, let's spend time working on a solution rather than wasting time finger pointing at people. After crisis is over, we can then have a constructive review to prevent it from happening again.

• I know people who are quite happy to turn up for work from 9-5, then go home. To them, a job is just a mean of getting a salary; for others, they turn up to work and go an extra mile to socialise and enjoy their work, and at the same time look to promote themselves. The bottom line is that it's all up to you.

• I am also involved in various community work, at the same time learn more about other skills such as presentation and interpersonal skills etc. I personally think that life is more meaningful and complete if we spend a bit of spare time for things outside our personal lives.

To me, everything is a learning curve and therefore I see obstacles as learning experiences, not problems. It's easier said than done and it's inevitable that when I do encounter difficulties, I would need someone else to remind me of this!

I'd like to end here with a good luck message to all readers. I have long realised that I've been fortunate to live in a society where success is pretty much up to me.

Outside my processional working life, I am currently involved with the Labour party and hope to be elected as a councillor for Tower Hamlets.

I am writing a diary about it in the hope of to sharing and encouraging more people from ethnic backgrounds like us to realise our potential and seize the chance of being involved in whatever it is that we want to do.

My message is that we should maximise our potential and if the society that you live in does present an opportunity (especially USA, UK, France, Australia etc), do take it. In a more restrictive environment, it's still worth a try.

It's best to have something, however little, than nothing.